A source on politics, war, the Middle East, Arabic poetry, and art.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Israel's deadly legacy still lurks in Lebanon
"Nearly four years after Israel littered southern Lebanon with mines during its devastating war with Hezbollah, teenager Mohammed al-Hajj Mussa can barely bring himself to speak of the day he lost his legs. On August 11, 2006, the lean, dark-haired boy was riding behind his father on a motorbike to deliver food to a nearby town badly hit in the Israeli raids when a cluster bomb went off under one of the tyres. "Later, I was told that I was found in a creek about four hours after the explosion," Mohammed, now 15, told AFP at his rundown home in the Palestinian refugee camp of Al-Bass, located in the southern coastal town of Tyre. "I came to when they were pulling me out of the water, and I knew it. I could see my legs falling apart."" (thanks Olivia)